Since the advent of portable radios, the variety and quantity of battery operated portable electronic devices have grown unabatedly. The introduction of mobile telephones and personal organizers having powerful computing capacity, numerous software applications and internet access have increased the widespread use of portable electronic devices. Increasing functionalities and applications such as games and online social networking enabled by high speed wireless internet access results in greater device usage by individuals causing the devices to become fixtures within individual's lifestyles. Increased usage results in faster depletion of a devices battery power.
Portable devices such as mobile telephones, tablets etc. are exemplary of a growing market segment commonly referred to as “lifestyle electronics” and such devices consume electricity that is provided via rechargeable built in or removable batteries. The problem is that such devices are by design intended to be portable and compact in size and are thus limited in the size and storage capacity of their batteries. Additionally, users do not want to carry multiple batteries for each device that they are using and it is not uncommon to find a user carrying multiple devices at all times. This provides a need for portable solar electricity generators to be used by users that do not wish to burden themselves with carrying multiple, heavy back up batteries. Additionally, these portable solar electricity generators provide users with the ability to not be tethered to fixed electrical AC or DC outlets.
Numerous manufacturers have introduced portable battery back up systems for use in charging electronic devices either by providing additional batteries that supplement the electronic device battery or will charge the electronic device battery itself. Typically, batteries need to be charged via an AC electrical outlet as its electrical charge is depleted and some manufacturers have provided battery chargers that derive their energy from the sun via flat photovoltaic panels. Such systems employ various photovoltaic (PV) panels that are interconnected and foldable into compact packages but require user assembly to interconnect the battery charger/battery to the photovoltaic panels and the battery to the AC inverter. This is a cumbersome arrangement that requires a user to be knowledgeable and dexterous. Additionally, these photovoltaic panels typically do not deliver the rated power advertised by the manufacturer because the photovoltaic panels are stationery whereas the sunlight shifts throughout the day. Hence, there is a need for solar energy systems that utilizes a sun tracking mechanism in conjunction with the photovoltaic panels. More importantly, in order to be of utility to users traveling with multiple personal lifestyle devices such sun tracking solar energy receivers must provide ample power for their multiple devices. Thus, there is a need for a device capable of generating sufficient power to power such devices directly from the sun or subsequently from built in batteries when the sun is no longer available. Currently available portable photovoltaic panel based solar chargers do not have the ability to generate sufficient power to provide real time power to user devices.